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NPR or Merrill?
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Date: May 1st, 2008 2:49 PM Author: honey-headed jet-lagged hominid Subject: which sounds like the better deal? Merrill Lynch Wealth Management/Advisor, I know its not banking or anything too special.
OR
NPR News Reporting, Assitant to Business News Reporter
I know these aren't the best of the best, but hey it's what I was able to scrap in a short amount of time. But which one sounds better? |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 2:51 PM Author: Vibrant Silver Hunting Ground completely depends on what you want to do with your life. Personally, I'd go with NPR. from what I've seen, "financial advisors," even at brand-name firms are just salespeople who exist in a completely different universe from the analysts and other bankers. if you're gonna be making 35k/year, why not do something a bit outside of the box? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9717329) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 3:17 PM Author: Lilac stage Completely agree. You said it better than I would've, though, I think. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9717461) |
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Date: May 2nd, 2008 7:44 PM Author: Multi-colored coral school cafeteria knife Titcr, I know a man who used to be a so-called Financial Advisor for American Express (or perhaps it was VISA?) and he was exactly as described ... a glorified salesman working on some sort of bizarre commission and even then only making some fairly low salary compared to that which might be expected from his job title. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9723958) |
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Date: May 2nd, 2008 8:13 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour Banking is all about selling, but it's just selling larger things to big corporations. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9724085) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 3:48 PM Author: Cordovan Half-breed NPR, it will be a more interesting experience when you interview for jobs next year. You can say you looked at things objectively, from a distance. Most importantly, the supervisors and writers you'll be working with have substantive experience and should be good writers/thinkers. At Merrill, they'll be teaching you to push product. Nothing more, nothing less. So when you interview for jobs, unless you're looking for sales/broker jobs, I'd say the NPR job looks better. It's also business news and NPR has good business news. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9717656) |
Date: May 1st, 2008 3:27 PM Author: demanding ticket booth puppy i think i would go with npr. if you really make an effort to get to know people and work hard it seems like it can be a really good experience. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9717528) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 3:30 PM Author: self-absorbed outnumbered police squad voyeur I've done radio reporting for a living. Merrill, hands down. Radio is a lifestyle that will make you poor and suck your soul. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9717551) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 4:21 PM Author: Supple fat ankles npr is kinda effete (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9717848) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 7:56 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour I'll break it down for you. Merrill Lynch GPC is like a used car lot of the finance world. They sell you shitty products that the salesman doesn't know much about in any way they can. Granted, it's one of the better used car lots, but one nonetheless.
NPR is a radio station that no bankers respect or listen to, and it definitely doesn't provide you with any financial skills. BUT I think you may be able to use it to your advantage IF you can build a unique story around it for interviews.
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:20 PM Author: Supple fat ankles doubtful (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719256) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:41 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour You're right, but its more doable than the story that goes, "I cold called some people for my FA" (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719396) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:50 PM Author: Supple fat ankles I don't think so. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719442) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:53 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour I trust you are drawing on your extensive banking experience with that reply. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719453) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:58 PM Author: Supple fat ankles doesn't matter (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719491) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:52 PM Author: Vibrant Silver Hunting Ground i knew a couple of guys in college who took FA positions with morgan-stanley and used to talk idiot girls into believing that they were i-bankers. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719449) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:53 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour "morgan-stanley" lulz (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719456) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:55 PM Author: Vibrant Silver Hunting Ground the FAs had this massive office out in the burbs where they worked like two to a cubicle and fought for $1,000 referral fees. in fact, the two guys ended up ending their friendship over a disputed referral fee. it was pretty funny. one of them is still in the Morgan-Stanley Facebook network even though he hasn't worked at their FA shop for almost 3 years. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719460) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:56 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour MS has a decent private bank actually, but all WM is trash. there's no "-" btw.
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:58 PM Author: Vibrant Silver Hunting Ground ah, ok. Just goes to show how extensive my finance experience is (i file my taxes once a year, I think). (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719481) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 9:58 PM Author: Supple fat ankles they do ok. Of course3 people wash out but likely no more than the percentage that leave banking. "ionvestment banking" is secondary to other positions in the inudtry anywya. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719485) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 10:02 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour I hate how you pretend to know anything about this subject, but oh well. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719509) |
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Date: May 1st, 2008 10:04 PM Author: Supple fat ankles dude, i can't even type (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9719513) |
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Date: May 2nd, 2008 10:31 AM Author: honey-headed jet-lagged hominid Subject: whenever someone has wealth management.... listed as their job on facebook, does that usually mean they're financial advisors? I've seen a lot of people with Wealth Management or Private Wealth Management on their facebook and never put the two and two together. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9721548) |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 9:55 AM Author: fragrant address windowlicker Yes, they are the same. Asset Management is the management arm for institutional assets and general "mutual funds" type products, whereas Wealth Management is Private Banking. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9726737) |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 12:25 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour however, private banking is usually a lot more prestigious than general wealth management. The difference being you typically have around 20-30 clients and manage around $1B in assets, the latter you have 300 clients and manage $300M in assets. The concentration in wealth allows you to invest heavily in alternative investments (PE, HF, MLP, etc.), whereas wealth management sticks almost exclusively to typical vehicles such as mutual funds. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9727119) |
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Date: May 2nd, 2008 2:49 PM Author: Bistre Slimy Partner Cuckoldry NPR, you can spin that better and it won't feel sleazy and they'll actually expect you to use writing skills at NPR. Nothing wrong with learning about sales, but the MS thing is sales, bro. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9722415) |
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Date: May 2nd, 2008 7:39 PM Author: honey-headed jet-lagged hominid Subject: NPR is actually the better choice, you're right. But I couldn't even spin the MS thing into a Private Wealth Management gig? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9723932) |
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Date: May 2nd, 2008 7:46 PM Author: Multi-colored coral school cafeteria knife You can always spin everything into something else (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9723968) |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 1:05 PM Author: Talented Church Affirmative Action No, you can't spin that better. As someone who has tried to do that before with a Dow Jones program, I can tell you recruiters are not that impressed. And I actually wrote stories, I wasn't an assistant. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9727247) |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 5:15 PM Author: honey-headed jet-lagged hominid Subject: I know a guy from NYU... who spun his wealth management gigs at Morgan and landed a stint at a firm in NY. Granted it wasn't GS or any of the top firms but a smaller lesser known one. Not trying to play him up or anything. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9728216) |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 1:57 AM Author: Thriller emerald institution depressive NPR. Others have already touched on all the reasons I would offer. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9725739) |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 3:47 PM Author: Supple fat ankles they're all gay and wrong. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9727830) |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 2:59 PM Author: self-absorbed outnumbered police squad voyeur Everyone telling the OP NPR has never worked in radio.
I've worked in radio. Even though Merrill is pretty much a sales gig, it's also a better one.
Trust me. Don't go there. |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 5:13 PM Author: honey-headed jet-lagged hominid Subject: well the whole point is to eventually land a gig... in business/economic (maybe political) reporting, i.e. Bloomberg, Reuters, etc.
Granted this is only my first internship but which one would help me land a better one senior year that's closer to the field I eventually want to go in?
Again, thanks for the info guys. |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 5:23 PM Author: awkward cerebral parlour Why didn't you say this before??
Do NPR then, easy choice. |
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Date: May 3rd, 2008 6:57 PM Author: Supple fat ankles he's flamer in all senses of the word.. (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9728703) |
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Date: May 4th, 2008 2:02 PM Author: self-absorbed outnumbered police squad voyeur Then take the time you need to find a print or television gig.
Radio is not respected by the other forms of journalism, with good reason. |
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Date: May 4th, 2008 3:17 PM Author: honey-headed jet-lagged hominid Subject: how hard is it to land an internship with Bloomberg? I knew of a guy who had a lousy gpa yet was able to land something with them in DC. How competitive is their summer program? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9732640) |
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Date: May 4th, 2008 5:41 PM Author: Talented Church Affirmative Action I have two friends who are interning with Bloomberg this summer. One guy had previously interned at CNN; The other one came from a deal with his school paper. Bloomberg has some direct-recruiting deals with college newspapers, where they take 1 person from the college paper every year, etc. If you don't have that advantage, it can be competitive but it has nothing to do with your GPA. They want to see that you can write and report quickly and accurately. Do you have reporting experience? They are not going to be impressed with an internship assisting another reporter. You need published/aired clips of your own, usually hard news pieces on deadline.
I actually was speaking to a Bloomberg recruiter last week and I'll tell you right now, they are very uppity and quite cold even after they accept you for an internship.
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Date: May 4th, 2008 10:29 PM Author: honey-headed jet-lagged hominid Subject: so they want to see previous journalism experience? I have no reporting experience. I guess I can count that one out. Is it the same at Reuters? (http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=807370&forum_id=1#9734728) |
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Date: May 4th, 2008 11:47 PM Author: Talented Church Affirmative Action Your application needs to include published newspaper clips or tapes of broadcast work. I don't think they will consider you without that, unless you know someone there and have a crazy connection. Reuters requires two letters or recommendation from people who are familiar with your writing and reporting (ie. previous internship supervisors).
I got rejected from Reuters' summer internship and also the Wall Street Journal; I've had four reporting internships during undergrad: I was part of Dow Jones' business reporting program; I've worked at mid to large sized Gannett and McClatchy papers on their business desks; I've been published in a lot of papers, including The Washington Post. I accepted an internship with the Associated Press this summer instead.
If this is a route you really want to try for, my advice is take the NPR internship and use your own initiative to try to work on some of your own stories. Pitch ideas to your editors there and see if they will let you work on a few things on your own. Then you can send these with your application to Reuters and Bloomberg. (Make sure you also try the AP and Dow Jones) If you have a year left of school, try to then use your experience at NPR to apply to freelance or string for a publication like WSJ or Businessweek -- they take part-time interns or stringers during the year (I don't know where you live though... some locations might not work). During the year it is much easier than for the summer. Then by the Fall, you can apply for summer internships for after graduation. A lot of places hire out of these internships. The application process is early, as in deadlines are usually around Oct and Nov for summer internships.
Good luck! |